Fear of AI and Technology Started Centuries Ago

People fear rogue robots like the Terminator (from the 1984 movie) will take over the earth and humankind if we allow technology to continue to advance. This fear has been around for a very long time, much longer than ChatGPT and robot waiters.

Long ago, there were tales of golems, a black box of evil, and a self-driving boat. Point is, the theme of creating technology that rebels has been around for a very long time.

Some myths and tales:

  • Pandora’s box: Pandora, an artificial life form, releases misery onto mankind
  • Golem of Prague: a golem that is like a robot that serves its master but later rebels and brings destruction
  • Odyssey: Odysseus gets home using a self-driving boat 

For the full article on how our fears of artificial intelligence started more than a millennia ago, check out more examples of rebellious innovations.

How to Be an Inspiration

These last two weeks of the year can be wonderful times or tough times because of the holidays. It’s a time to be with friends and family, which can be a pro or a con. Family time can be full of stressful interactions. And for those without family close by, it can be an isolating time.

For times like these, five pieces of advice are a valuable way to be an inspiration to others and make life more positive:

  1. Choose your words wisely. You raise someone up with a genuine compliment. Or you can bring them down with a two-second insult that wounds them for life.
  2. Choose your actions wisely. You can make someone’s day with a smile. Or you can add to their stress by cutting them off in traffic.
  3. Choose the proper brain food. You can load your mind and thoughts with toxic or empty thoughts by watching terrible TV and reading bad books. Or you can read books and watch movies that make you think about how you can make life better.
  4. Choose carefully how you want to spend 86, 400 seconds. That’s all the time you get each day. You’ll never get it back.
  5. Choose your priorities and set doable goals. It’s not always possible to finish everything you intend to in a day, but you can try your best and impress yourself with what you can do!

Christmas, Santa, and Letters

Many children around the world who celebrate Christmas wake up to presents from Santa on Christmas Day. Some children visited Santa at the mall before Christmas to tell him about the gifts they wanted. Some children write to Santa about their Christmas wishes.

The tradition of writing letters to Santa has a long history that has evolved over time. At first, the letters weren’t about getting toys. Over a century ago, Santa was writing letters of advice to children. He would comment on their past behavior over the year and how they could improve for the coming year! Santa (well, the parents) would leave these letters near the fireplace.

As it became more common to buy stamps in the 1860s, American children sent letters to Santa at the North Pole, where they believed he lived and worked. The tradition evolved to what it is today: children ask for toys they would like to see under the tree at Christmas.

In Canada, children can write to Santa and get a reply! For over 40 years, the elves at Canada Post sort all the mail that children have written to Santa. If they write a letter using the postal code HOH OHO, children can send the letter for free to the North Pole where Santa lives. Thousands of Canada Post volunteers help Santa to reply to all letters in the language that the letter was written in, including braille.

Websites such as emailsanta.com make the writing process easy for those who want to write a letter to Santa. You choose a stamp, go to a webpage with the skeletal structure of a letter, and fill in all the blanks. And just like that, presto, your letter to Santa is complete! You will also instantly get an answer.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas!

Your perfect space for reading and writing

Daily writing prompts: You get to build your perfect space for reading and writing. What’s it like?

My perfect space for reading and writing would look both classic and high tech at the same time. 

To start, I would have a desk for my writing work. The center of the desk has a computer and multiple monitors because multiple screens are needed to display multiple pages or multiple documents. I’ll also need speakers to play music in the background and set the mood for creative thinking. 

Writing on a computer would be much faster and more convenient. When I’m finished with a piece of writing, I can use editing software to check over what I’ve written. If I want to go to a coffee shop, I take my writing with me and continue writing on my tablet.

My perfect space for reading and writing has a corner of the room, opposite the desk, for reading. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves have my favorite books, arranged by subject. When I’m in the mood to read, I can take a book from this collection, sit in my beanbag chair with pillows, and read.

This comforting space is a room with windows to let in the light. And in addition to the music I can play to set a relaxing atmosphere, I’ll also have plants to give the room some life.

How about you? If you have a reading space, what is it like?